Chapter 20

It comes rushing in.

Once again, an uncontrollable wave of memories engulfed her entire head.

Memories should be products of the past, yet the memories tearing through her head contained both past and future simultaneously.

Twella slowly opened her eyes.

She’d grown accustomed to it now, so it didn’t bother her anymore.

The events that would occur ahead, the incidents she would face—none of it surprised her anymore.

Emotions dulled and her mind wore away.

Even so, she didn’t let go of her sense of purpose.

She retrieved the nark she’d spread out thread by thread and wrapped the worn blanket around her body. She pretended to sleep while leaning against the warehouse wall for ten minutes.

“Why are you sleeping in a place like this?”

The Pioneer appeared.

Hyodan.

A goblin who’d obtained the Purple Form’s arts.

Though it was their first real meeting, Twella knew everything about the goblin before her. Their preferences, their personality, what they wanted.

“I-I like it here.”

She produced a halting speech pattern.

An Ascetic standing behind Hyodan approached holding a lantern. They whispered something to Hyodan—probably Twella’s personal information.

“You’re a child with potential.”

Hyodan bent down and approached.

A dazzlingly beautiful woman.

The goblin Quilbion had once admired.

“Aren’t you lonely being alone?”

“It’s better to be lonely than to get beaten by the other kids.”

“Oh my. Why did the children beat you?”

“I got punished because I said bad things. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“What did you say?”

Hyodan’s expression was benevolent. A gentle smile that seemed to forgive any sin.

Twella thought how truly futile it all was while curling her body up as small as possible.

“Don’t be afraid. I can absolve your sins.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Now, confess to me with that mouth of yours.”

“…I said the Sun was disgusting.”

“The Sun is disgusting. Mm. Do you still think so?”

“No!”

This terrible acting needed to end quickly—Twella had to make an effort not to let out a bored sigh.

“Answer honestly. Twella, I want to hear your true feelings.”

Hyodan gestured, and the Ascetics standing behind withdrew far into the distance.

“It’s just the two of us now. So you can spill your secrets.”

“…I kept thinking it was disgusting. Am I wrong? Should I fail?”

While answering, she released a bit of the nark she’d hidden in the deepest place. Hyodan’s eyes widened slightly.

“No, no. You spoke the truth. Confessing the truth is a noble act.”

“Even though I said the Sun was disgusting?”

“That’s fine. Anyone can be swayed by evil thoughts. That itself isn’t wrong.”

Hyodan extended her hand.

“I’ll guide you to the right path. Light dwells within you. A very brilliant light. If you polish that light, you’ll be able to receive black robes and even undergo the Ritual of Awakening.”

There it was—the swindler’s words.

Twella sneered inwardly while raising her voice.

“Really? Can I really receive black robes?”

“Yes, Twella. You’ll become qualified. My eyes are very special, you see.”

She felt Hyodan’s sharp nark tearing through her body.

It was the kind of gaze that examined whether butchered meat had gone bad or was still fresh.

Twella let her observe freely. Even if Hyodan used sorcery to peer into her interior, she wouldn’t be able to find the hidden nark.

Because.

That was the predetermined fate.

It was a memory she’d seen countless times.

Sometimes it was Hyodan who sought this place, sometimes Dalim.

They all wanted her, peered into her, and drooled over her.

Among hundreds and thousands of waves of memory, not once had the nark ever been discovered.

It was certain.

They were inferior to her.

Even now, if she acted, she could slice Hyodan’s neck, that filthy body, into tiny pieces.

With the wind’s cutting power Twella possessed, it would be an easy thing.

But she held back.

That too was already decided fate.

“Oh my, you seem flustered because it’s all so sudden. It’s okay, you can be. I understand everything, so you can be honestly happy.”

Hyodan extended her hand and caressed Twella’s cheek.

Did her exhausted appearance from being sick of inevitable fate look like being shocked from joy in the goblin’s eyes?

This too was a sight she’d seen countless times.

It’s okay.

Because she would overcome it in the end.

The ending couldn’t be changed, but the process leading to the ending could be adjusted to her taste.

That was enough.

That was enough to remain happy.

For a moment, a flower field covered in gray passed before her eyes.

Twella shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut. She’d thought she’d grown numb, but facing the ending was still a frightening thing.

Hyodan approached and embraced her.

An embrace with no warmth.

It was revolting, but she extended her arms and hugged her back.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Everything will be fine now. I’ll guide you.”

“Thank you so much.”

“From now on, I’ll be by your side. Ah, I haven’t told you my name yet.”

Twella pulled away slightly while waving her hand.

“H-how could a Pioneer give their name to an ordinary student like me…”

“You’re not an ordinary student anymore. I’m called Hyodan. Will you try saying it?”

Hyodan openly formed a hand seal with her left hand. It seemed to be some kind of sorcery that activated when the subject mentioned the name.

It didn’t matter.

Whatever sorcery containing intent flew at her would have no effect.

“Lady Hyodan.”

“Well done.”

She felt nark seeping in and heading toward her left ankle. Some kind of surveillance technique? It wasn’t impressive sorcery.

“Now, let’s get up.”

She grasped Hyodan’s hand and returned to the area where the dormitories were concentrated. She could see Ascetics waiting in the clearing.

Al Terua was among them too.

They confirmed each other’s safety by briefly exchanging glances.

Twella felt relieved.

Right, that was enough.

“The problem is resolved, so everyone return to your positions. And take good care of this child.”

Al Terua subtly stepped forward. Twella also stood beside Al Terua.

“Twella, I’ll come find you again tomorrow. You have to do well until then, understand?”

“Yes, Lady Hyodan.”

When Hyodan turned around, the lantern-bearing Ascetic followed. The other clustered Ascetics also scattered and returned to their respective dormitories.

Al Terua began walking and asked.

“Is there anything I need to know?”

“No. It happened as I saw. Nothing will change. What about you?”

“Just as you said, Quilbion succeeded. I agreed to teach him sorcery.”

“You did well.”

“What will happen will happen—truly, the greatness of fate.”

Al Terua walked ahead while clicking his tongue. Twella stared at his back.

Who was this person?

In the memories that kept surging up, Al Terua’s appearance always changed. It was strange. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. ^[1])

Yet the name was always the same.

What exactly was a human who transformed within fixed fate?

In the first place…

“Ascetic.”

“Mm?”

“Are you human?”

“Wasn’t that debate finished a few days ago? Think rationally. If I were a goblin, already…”

“No, I’ve never suspected you of being a goblin.”

“Then?”

“…It’s frustrating because I don’t know that.”

“Just what did you see with those eyes? I have no idea what you saw that makes you talk about me like that.”

Twella closed her mouth.

She mustn’t say it.

This too, she’d seen in the memories.

The moment she spoke, everything changed drastically. Enough to greatly twist the clearly visible memories of past and future.

The ending was the same, but the content leading to the ending became miserable.

That had to be prevented.

Al Terua shrugged his shoulders.

“You can doubt me if you want. I’m a supporting character in the end. I’ll just adapt to your actions.”

“You might not be a supporting character.”

“No, I’m not loved by fate as much as you. So I can’t be the lead. That’s certain.”

“How are you so sure?”

At that question, Al Terua squinted.

“That’s…”

He stroked his eyebrow with his finger. The man before her looked down at the ground as if agonizing, then soon smiled.

“I’m not sure why I came to think that way. Actually, I can’t remember outside memories well these days. So it’s a bit scary too. Just like you said, ‘me who isn’t me’ might exist inside here.”

Al Terua’s index finger pointed at his own heart.

“But what can I do? You won’t answer, and I can’t remember well. So I have to focus on the moment, on the present.”

“Do you want me to answer?”

Al Terua shook his head firmly.

“If you’re hesitating, it means you’ve already glimpsed fate. If so, don’t speak. There’s no need to deliberately drag me up. I’m satisfied as a supporting character.”

Hurry and go sleep, Al Terua said, pointing at the dormitory.

Twella gazed briefly at the fourth floor of Friendship House where Quilbion would be, then turned around.

*

“Good news and bad news. I’ve prepared one of each. Which do you want to hear first?”

That was what Al Terua said the moment Quilbion woke up.

Quilbion rubbed his eyes and replied.

“Is the good news good enough to cover the bad news?”

“By my standards, yes, but it might not be for you.”

“Then I’ll hear the good news first.”

“Mm? I expected you to ask for the bad news first, given the mood.”

“It’s better to eat the bitter thing later.”

Al Terua pointed outside the window. He stood up and looked out. Students preparing for morning cleaning were coming and going in the clearing.

“No child was caught. What you worried about won’t happen.”

“That’s a relief. I don’t want to see the kids die again. So what’s the bad news?”

Al Terua cracked his neck left and right while speaking.

“You won’t be able to meet Twella anymore from now on.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she’s being moved to the special class.”

“Special class?”

“Ah, you wouldn’t know that term. You only called them ‘special children,’ right?”

Special children.

What that meant was clear.

“She’s going west.”

“Right. She’ll learn sorcery together with the other kids in the special livestock pen.”

“Livestock pen?”

Al Terua made an expression like he’d slipped up, but his face quickly returned to nonchalance.

“At this point, names don’t really matter anymore. This place is the first stage workshop for selecting material like you. And the place separately prepared to the west is the special livestock pen. There, they teach children who possess outstanding nark.”

“Why do the goblins do such dangerous things? If the brainwashing breaks while learning sorcery…”

“The specially managed kids have even stronger prohibitions placed on them. There’s no worry they’ll break free.”

Al Terua approached from the side.

“If strong prohibitions were placed on everyone here, it would be easier to manage, but the material’s specialness would disappear. Neglecting them is a refinement process. That’s why I called it fate. If the gravitational pull of fate hadn’t worked and you two hadn’t met me…”

He didn’t need to hear the rest to know.

They would have been dragged out to the clearing and beaten to death by the students.

Or they would have met their end as material without realizing anything, caught in powerful sorcery.

“Twella will do well. She wasn’t caught by the Pioneer either. It means she hid her nark perfectly.”

“…What should I do? I can’t just stay here stupidly.”

“For now, live your daily life ruminating on the stupid past you lived. Until preparations are complete.”

“What about sorcery practice?”

“Only do it here during rest time. Never do it inside the dormitory.”

Al Terua pointed at his forearm.

“I said that thread is a temporary measure, right? If you use nark carelessly, it might come undone. So keep that in mind.”

“Understood. I’ll stay quiet.”

“…Not a very trustworthy answer.”

“I’m not an idiot. I won’t do things that’ll get me caught.”

“Then that’s fortunate.”

Quilbion gathered his clothes and opened the door.

It was time to return to the room where Drich would be waiting.